I Wish it Was a Dream
by OneManShow
Summary: TwoBit's mom just died of cancer. How is he going to deal with it? Will he finally be forced to grow up? Hey! Finally a story of mine that's not a songfic. Enjoy. I'm sad to say it, but DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I am not making any profit off of this, and it is just for entertainment purposes only. Please enjoy it! **

I looked down at my mom and she put her weak hand to my cheek lightly. I held it there as tears filled my eyes.

"Goodbye honey." She said. "I love you Keith." Her hand went limp against my face and the tears spilled out. I knew my mom was sick, I knew she was in the hospital, I knew she had cancer, but I thought she was getting better. I honestly believed she was going to survive, and here she was, lying there, gone.

A hand touched my shoulder and I turned to see a man in a white doctors coat. His eyes were full of pity and I sniffed a little, and wiped my eyes quickly.

"I'm sorry son." He said. "We tried our hardest. She wasn't able to make it." I nodded and leaned over to my mom. I pushed what was left of her thinning hair out of her face and kissed her forehead.

"I love you mom." I whispered. I turned to the doctor, he opened his mouth to say something, probably something about how she was better off now, but I didn't wait around to hear him. I bolted out of the hospital and hurried down the street. I didn't want to hear that shit, she would never be better off, she was better off when she wasn't sick.

I tried to keep the tears from my eyes, but they poured out like water from a facet, down my cheeks and streaming off of my face. I kept my head down and ran into someone.

"S-sorry." I choked out, about to walk around whoever it was and hurry off somewhere more alone. As I started to walk away, the person grabbed my arm and I looked up to see Soda holding my arm, and Dally and Steve staring at me. I hadn't cried in front of them in forever, I don't even remember I time when I had.

"Two-Bit?" Soda said, looking confused. They knew my mom was sick, but like me, they thought she was going to get better, I had led them to believe that, so how were they supposed to know what was wrong?

"What the hell happened?" Dally said, shocked. If I was crying for any other fucking reason I would have laughed at their surprise for seeing me all red-eyed like this.

"She's gone." I said. I couldn't say "dead", that would make it too final, as if saying "gone" just meant she was on vacation and would be coming back as soon as she could.

I pulled my arm away from Soda. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I started to walk away, hoping they would just leave me alone. My wish was left unfulfilled. Dally pulled on the back of my jacket, causing me to have to walk backwards a few steps.

"Are you okay Two-Bit?" Steve asked me. I felt like screaming. I felt like punching someone. I wanted to yell "NO! I'M NOT OKAY! MY MOM JUST DIED! I'M. NOT. FUCKING. OKAY!" but I didn't. I just looked at Steve and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied quickly. Dally snorted.

"Liar." He said. "You look like shit." Well, maybe I did, I couldn't have fucking cared any less. I didn't really care about anything at the moment. Nothing at all.

I coughed. "Thanks Dal." I said sarcastically, trying to act like I usually would. It wasn't working very well though. I could feel myself oozing out sadness.

"Wanna come back to my house?" Soda asked, "That's where we're all going." I shook my head. I knew Pony was there, and then Soda, Steve and Dally. I just didn't want to be around people at the moment. I wanted to be by myself so I could cry, scream, punch the walls, lose control.

"Are you sure?" Soda smiled at me. "Come on. Pony and Johnny are there, and Darry should be home from work soon." I shook my head again. People were there, that was what I didn't want.

"Naw. I'm sure. I'll catch up with y'all later." I said, and hurried away quickly, before they could object further.

I stuck my key into the keyhole and I stepped inside the familiar house. The first thing I saw when I entered was a picture of me and my mom on the wall. I was around ten and she had her arms around me, and was kissing me on the cheek, and I was struggling to get away. More tears came out. You hear people say that sometimes they cry so much that there aren't anymore tears left to come out, but that's a lie. I cried so much, and didn't run out of tears.

I got up to the kitchen and opened a beer. I put it to my lips and I couldn't take a sip. My mom had always said she'd wished I would stop drinking so much beer, and now I couldn't drink a drop. I threw the glass bottle as hard as I could into the sink and watched as it cracked into a bunch of shattered glass pieces. It looked just like my heart felt.

I walked back into the living room and lay on the couch and cried. I cried until I tired myself out so much, that I fell asleep.

**A/N: Please review and tell me if you'd like me to continue it, because I won't continue it if no one is going to ****read it. Thank you! **

**OneManShow/Lauren**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I am not making any profit off of this, and it is just for entertainment purposes only. Please enjoy it! **

I was woken up the next morning by someone shaking me roughly. I opened my eyes to see the round face of Maria, my 13 year old sister.

"Hey Two-Bit! Where's Mom? Isn't she home from chemo?" She asked me eagerly. Poor kid, this was going to hurt her more than me.

"Where'd you get to last night, Ria?" I asked her, trying to change the subject before I broke the news to her.

"I stayed the night as Michelle's." She said. "So where's Mom?" I bit my lip. I pulled her next to me and she looked at me, her eyes a little wide.

"Two-Bit. . .?"

"Ria. . .Mom, she's not coming home." I said, my voice just hovering above a whisper.

She stood up immediately. "NO!" She screamed. And as soon as she yelled it, her knees buckled and I grabbed her by the armpits, setting her gently back onto the couch. I sat down next to her and hugged her close.

She clung onto me and sobbed into my shirt. I almost started crying again, too, but I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek. I wasn't going to cry in front of my sister, it would just upset her even more.

Ria pulled away from me, and stood up. She was shaking a little. She looked at me, and then bolted out the door.

"RIA!" I yelled after her, but she was already gone. I squeezed my eyes shut and after a few minutes or so I went out the door, to see if I could find her, make sure she was okay, or with a friend or something.

I walked along the sidewalk, my hands pushed into my pockets. I walked by the Curtis' and walked up to the front door, maybe someone saw Ria. I opened the door, and let it shut with a bang.

Ponyboy was sitting next to Johnny on the couch and they both looked up at me with pity in their eyes. I could hear Soda in the bathroom, hollering something to Darry, who yelled back "IN YOUR CLOSET!" loudly from the kitchen. He came into the living room, and smiled when he saw me. Why were they all looking at me with that same pitying look?

"Hey y'all. Any of you guys seen Ria?" I asked.

They all shook their heads. "She'll turn up." Darry said with a nod.

I faked a smile. I think it was probably my first fake smile ever. What I didn't know was that there were going to be a lot more fake smiles where that came from.

The door swung open again and I turned to see Dally strolling in casually. "_Damn, this place is always loaded with people." _I said to myself. Dally nodded to me and went to the kitchen.

He came back moments later with a beer in each hand. He extended one out to me, but I shook my head.

"No, thanks though." I said. Pony looked at me, with genuine surprise written all over his face.

"Two-Bit Keith Matthews?" He said. "Turning down a beer?"

I shrugged. I didn't feel like drinking. It wouldn't take the pain away. I learned that a while back. Beer was good to numb stuff up, but after the numbing sensation fades away, the pain starts to sink in worse than before.

Dally walked over to me, a concerned glint in his eyes. For a second, I thought he was going to punch me, don't ask me why, but I wouldn't put it past him.

All he did, though, was put a hand on my forehead. I rolled my eyes and slapped it away.

"Geeze Dally, I ain't sick." I said.

He raised a brow at me. "I dunno, you felt kinda warm." He joked.

"I'm gonna go look for Ria. See ya'll later." I said and went out the door, and jumped down the porch steps.

I walked on, scoping the streets for my sister. I finally spotted her, sitting on a bench in the park. I almost didn't see her, because her head was hanging down looking at the ground.

I sat beside her and put my arm around her. She looked up at me.

"Two-Bit, are we gonna be okay?" She asked.

"_I have no idea."_ I thought, but "You bet," is what I said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I am not making any profit off of this, and it is just for entertainment purposes only. Please enjoy it! **

The next day was a Monday and I was trying my hardest to keep my head up, for Ria. I made her go to school but I didn't go. I leant my car to Steve, though, so he could drive Pony and Johnny to school. It was around noon, so I walked to the DX station where Soda works. I walked up to the counter, and Soda was sitting on the counter, making out with Sandy. I let out a laugh, and Soda and Sandy whirled around to face me. I grinned at them.

"Boy, you two sure don't waste anytime, huh?" I said. Sandy mumbled that she had to go, and headed out the car. Moments later I heard the screeching of car tires. Soda punched my shoulder.

"You made her leave." He said, but grinned.

"Soda," I said in a mock serious voice, "Does Darry know how serious you two are? Does he need to give you, 'the talk.'"

Soda jumped over the counter, and swung at my head. I ducked, and twisted Soda's arm behind his back.

"Holler 'Uncle!'" I said, laughing.

"Alright, UNCLE!" Soda said, laughing as well. I let go of him and he faced me and grinned. The store door opened again and Johnny, Steve and Ponyboy walked in.

"Lunchtime already?" Soda said, handing them each a coke.

"Guess so." Steve said, taking a gulp of his coke.

Pony was frowning slightly, and his hand was in his pocket. I raised a brow at him.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Out of smokes." He said. I laughed.

"Never thought I'd see the day when you ran out of smokes." I joked. Pony looked to Soda.

"Hey Soda, can I have-"

"No." Soda shook his head. I guess the rest of us looked confused, because he added "Me and Darry are trying to get Pony to cut down on smokes."

"Good luck." Johnny and Steve said in unison. Pony grinned, and Soda sighed.

"Keep smoking five packs a day, kid, and you'll get cancer and die." Steve said. There was an awkward silence, and Steve looked at me in horror.

"I didn't mean...I don't...I..." He stuttered.

"No. It's okay. Really." I said. It wasn't like he had reminded me, I never stopped thinking about it. It was always there. In the back of my mind. It was a sadness, and a worry.

Johnny looked up at the wall, I guess there must of been a clock up there or something. "We need to go." He mumbled quietly. Steve nodded.

"Take it easy, Two-Bit." Pony said with a wave, before they disappeared.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Soda asked me.

_No_. "Yeah, why?"

"You have big black circles under your eyes." He said, but then he dropped it.

"Better go. Later, Soda." I said.

"Seeya." He said to my already turned back.

I walked back home and sat on the couch, staring at the tv. It wasn't turned on or anything, and I was feeling too lazy to get up and do it myself. Ria came home and I smiled at her.

"How was school?" I sounded like mom.

"Fine."

"Have any homework?" Yeah, like mom.

"Yeah."

"Gonna do it?"

"Now?"

"Yeah."

"Whatever." She said, and went into her room.

Someone started knocking on the door. I stood up and went to the door. I swung it open and saw the face I hadn't seen since Ria was born. The face that I hated.

"What the hell are you doing here dad?"

**Ooooh! Cliff hanger. Sorry it took me so long. Been busy. I'll try to update soon.**

**OneManShow**


	4. Chapter 4

**Whoahmygosh! How long has it _been!_ Ages, I know. I'm sooo sorry. xx;** **You forgive me, right? RIGHT? Right. **

**Disclaimer: ...-le sigh- I don't own it, okay?**

"I'm sorry about your mother, Keith." My dad said. He was tall and on the lean side, looking a little like me, which is why I recognized him, though I'd die rather than admit that out loud.

"Don't call me Keith." I cried out bitterly. Only my mom ever called my Keith...

"You've grown up. I remember when your hand was the size of my thumb."

I couldn't think of anything to say to that, so I didn't say anything. A first in my life. I looked behind me, but Ria was still in her room, thank God. It wasn't like she'd recognize him or anything, she was too little. He'd left when I was seven, she'd only been two.

"How's she doing?" It was like he was interrupting my thoughts, like now nothing was ever going to be safe and sacred again.

I shrugged, "About as well as expected. Her mother just died." I said, knowing exactly who he was talking about.

He nodded, and I waited for him to say something about the weather. _So, I've been gone eleven years, nice weather, huh?_

"How you've been?"

"Well, I was fine, but now I'm a little worried."

"About what, Keith?"

"About just why the fuck you've decided to show up."

There was a strange pause where I strongly debated punching him in the face.

"I want what's mine." He said.

"We don't really have anything." I said slowly.

"No. Keith. Think about it. Do you really think that you can take care of a thirteen-year-old girl when you can hardly take care of yourself?"

That stung and I stood there dumbfounded. What did that have to do with anything?

"What?" I blurted stupidly.

He grinned at me in almost a mocking way, shining every last creepily white tooth at me, "I did my research. You're an idiot. Still a Jr. at eighteen and a half. And you're a drunk. Plus, you've got a record. Maybe only for a few stupid things, nothing serious, but still, a record all the same. Even mentioning a little violence. No judge is going to favor you over me for custody of Maria." He said it carefully and cruelly, as if trying to erase his earlier "kindness."

I still hadn't quite grasped what he was saying. Custody of Maria? What?

He rolled his eyes at me and said, "I'm taking Maria." He said each word slowly as if I were a retarded five-year-old which, at the moment, I kind of felt like.

It then hit me. He was trying to take Maria home with him. "Go back to your own damn bastard kids." I muttered to him through clenched teeth.

He laughed. It was a creepy laugh. One that makes you dig your nails into your palms and sets your nerves on edge and reminds you of someone scratching a chalkboard.

"You're funny, but I'll have the last laugh." He said villainously. He then winked and walked back down to a cherry red mustang and drove off.

He'd gotten what I'd always envied by leaving us. By abandoning us. I'd be damned if I was gonna let him take anymore.


End file.
